Cost of renting increasing in Tennessee

JACKSON, Tenn. — The cost of rent has been steadily increasing in Tennessee, and it’s at the highest rate on record.

The rise in rent started during the pandemic. According to Jon Leckaie, a researcher at rent.com, the demand for housing was high, but there was not enough places being built to meet the demand due to the pandemic.

Rent has increased 15% to 20% since last year. In May 2021, the average rent was $1,170.

Friday, the average rent is $1,450. Leckaie says this is partly due to the number of people moving into the area.

“When we look at migration patterns among renters, we see a lot of people leaving the northeast and West Coast for places in the Midwest and South. A lot of that is driven by price,” Leckaie said.

Many of the people moving into Tennessee from those areas are used to higher prices and do not mind paying them.

“They’re coming from New York City, Charlotte, Los Angeles, so they’re coming from places where things are more expensive. They are used to paying more. They are typically paid higher salaries. All of that is driving up the rent prices in Tennessee,” Leckaie said.

Leckaie says that we will be seeing monthly and yearly changes on rent back to what we are used to seeing, but will not see costs go down.

“We are going to get back into a period where the yearly and monthly changes are back to what we are used to seeing, but we are going to be doing it at a much higher level. People are going to have to get used to paying more for what they used to get,” Leckaie said.

To see the full report released by rent.com, click here.